Under Pressure
by Firetoflame
Summary: When Emma and Regina save the town from the imploding trigger, it is a victory burger they both expect to share, not a magical affliction that seems to be drawing them closer and closer together. As the Mayor struggles to keep up appearances, Emma finds she doesn't really mind cozying up to the once Evil Queen, especially when holding her hand feels this good. SWANQUEEN.
1. Chapter 1

Emma Swan was used to the world being heavy.

She understood the weight on her shoulders, had learned to live with the burden of choice and circumstance and consequence. With both time and experience she had adapted to the ever changing expectations that accompanied this weight. And even with everything life had thrown at her, both real and in the (still unrealistic) realm of fairy tale, she had even learned to thrive under it.

Adding the new weights of two slightly overbearing parents trying to make up twenty-eight years of absence, a wonderful son who she was still struggling to know, and newly developed magic that coursed through her veins came as a challenge ― one that she usually took in strides. A challenge to blend ideals and desires with people who looked at her with the wide-eyed expression of new parents, though she had twenty-eight years of her own experience under her belt. The challenge of navigating the world of parenting, something she thought she had given up over eleven years ago, and the even bigger challenge called co-parenting.

Yes, her relationship with Regina was tentative at best. They tended to blow hot and cold, more violently that the changing seasons in Maine, but when it came to Henry they had finally come to the mutual understanding that what they both desired for him most of all was to be happy.

His happiness, his life, is what they fought for now. Together. Together they had stopped the trigger. Saved Storybrooke, and with it, their son. Their combined magic had fought against the pressure and won. So even though Emma should be feeling some miraculous weight lift off her chest as Ruby dropped a celebratory burger in front of her, as the happy smiles of her family and friends were exchanged around Granny's diner, as the clock tower chimed away another hour, she didn't.

In fact, it was an added weight, added pressure bearing down on her, that kept Emma's eyes focused intently on the table, wondering firstly, where Regina had disappeared to, and secondly, if a new kind of stress had settled in with their victory, or if she, the Saviour, had finally succumbed to her horrible eating habits and was having a heart attack.

"Emma, are you okay?"

She snapped her head up to find Snow (Should she call her mom now?) staring at her with puzzled concern.

Emma removed her hand from her chest where it had settled over her heart in subconscious worry and tucked it under the table, twisting it in her lap. "Yeah, you know," she said. "Just tired." She blinked, scrunching her eyes against the weight of her lids. "Kinda feel a headache coming on."

"I guess that can be expected when you save the town from an imploding trigger," David said, stretching his arm across the table. He rubbed her shoulder gently and a small part of her caved at the touch, letting the soothing gesture from her father satisfy the inner worries for a second. But only a second, then Emma lifted her head, steeled her gaze, and zeroed in on Henry, midway through his burger.

"You gunna chew there, kid? Or just inhale?"

"Ruby said it's on the house," he said after a long slurp from his drink. He let out a mighty sigh and collapsed against the back of the booth. "We didn't die today so I'm gunna indulge."

Emma smiled at him, the cocky smirk reminding her of Regina even more than the tilt of his eye brow. The eating habits, though; that was all her.

"Just don't make yourself sick." She pushed her own plate towards him, feeling suddenly full. With what she didn't know, because as far as she remembered the day was rather preoccupied with rescuing the town from self-destruction, so eating had been the last thing on her mind, but the thought of settling into the burger now almost made her sick. "Has anyone seen Regina?" she asked instead, taking her mind off the tight feeling in her abdomen.

"She slipped out a while ago," Snow said. "Said she wasn't feeling well, and maybe that's it, but I think she's just not used to being on the hero side of things."

Emma pondered that thoughtfully, running a hand absently over her chest.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Snow asked again.

"No," Emma said, still contemplating the heart attack theory, but seriously, wouldn't that just be the kicker. The cherry on top of an already royally messed up day. Not to mention she'd never hear the end of it from Regina. Her eating habits would be the talk of the town for months. Maybe even a year. The Mayor would probably designate this day as national triple-bypass day in honour of the coronary she was having.

"Do you want to leave?" David asked, getting to his feet.

Emma jumped at his response. "No, no. You two stay. Feed Henry. God knows he's obviously not getting enough at home since he's inhaling everything in sight."

"Hey," the kid mumbled around a mouth of fries.

Snow patted his shoulder and looked at Emma seriously, but at twenty-eight, a stern look from her parents didn't really affect her all that much.

"I'm just gunna walk around for a while," Emma said. "I feel kind of crappy. Maybe it'll help get whatever this is out of my system."

"Okay," Snow relented. "Just call us if you need anything. We'll see you at home later."

"Sure," Emma said, rising. She turned and ducked out the door before Leroy had a chance to grab her and demand another round of shots in her honour.

Across town, hands straddling her bathroom sink, Regina Mills took a settling breath, calming the rising pressure in her chest. She wanted to puke. But she didn't. Not really.

One look in the mirror told her something was wrong. Something in the way her face flushed red and hot from her cheeks to her ears, the weight behind her eyelids, the dry parch of her lips.

The day had been long, she told herself. Too long. Too demanding.

But Henry was safe. The town was safe. That's what mattered. She turned the taps on, splashed some water over her face and down her neck, her hand lingering just above her heart where a heaviness swelled. Then she opened the medicine cabinet, popped two Advil, and crawled beneath the sheets of her king-sized bed, desperate for sleep.

For relief from the weight. From the day. From the past.

Today she had been prepared to die as Regina.

Today she and Emma had saved the entire town.

Today she had become a hero.

And though there was some indecipherable tingling that swirled at the base of her stomach at the thought, the weight of said heroism was a lot more than she had expected. Maybe that's why she had spent so much time being evil. In the end, there was less pressure.


	2. Chapter 2

Regina arrived ten minutes late for her appointment at Storybrooke Hospital because she had been called by a reporter from the Mirror to issue a statement regarding the trigger and the lasting damages that had been caused when the aftershock of her and Emma's dispelling magic had shaken the town.

It was meant to be a quick explanation. A quote or two. The details they could work out with the Sheriff herself who would no doubt conveniently forget to file an incident report about this, but the reporter had been old and long-winded. Several times Regina wondered if he had stopped breathing on the other end of the phone only to find that when she cleared her throat he would start up again.

Setting her phone to vibrate she marched up to the receptionists desk and, after signing in, was escorted into the small examination room and instructed to change into a gown.

A nurse, clothed in bright purple scrubs and sporting a white stethoscope, took her vitals and listened to her chest. Regina recounted the tightness she felt, the fact that nothing seemed to bring her relief, and explained that over the last day she seemed to be getting worse. Whatever this ballooned feeling inside her was, it needed to be fixed. Now.

"The doctor will be in soon," the nurse said with a smile. "Just try to relax."

"Wonderful," Regina deadpanned. She wasn't thrilled about dealing with Whale like this, but seeing as it was her curse that made him the resident doctor she didn't have much of a choice. There was animosity between them. Deep hatred. The kind that fueled midday strangling's, but things had settled somewhat since then. Regina hadn't fire balled anyone in quite a while, though she wouldn't be opposed to breaking that streak today.

With a sigh she settled back on the examination table, arm draped over her head to hide her eyes from the prying halogen lights above. The ache behind her eyes had started up again. A booming bass just building and building and . . .

"The hell is going on, Doc?" Emma asked in the next room. She too had her eyes cast away from the lights.

He listened as she inhaled deeply, then moved the stethoscope to her back.

"Is it my heart?" Emma asked. "Am I going to keel over?"

Whale shook his head.

"Words," Emma said. "Words would help."

"Ms. Swan ―"

"Emma," she said. "Just call me Emma and tell me what's wrong. I'll stop eating the grilled cheese at lunch, I swear. Just tell me you can fix whatever this is." She held her chest. "I can't even breathe sometimes."

"Emma," Whale began. "As far as I can tell, there is nothing physically wrong with you. Vitals are good. Tests all came back negative."

"So what, this is all in my head?"

"No," Whale said, scribbling a note onto her chart. "Not necessarily."

"Well it's necessary for me to be able to breathe to function and right now that has become kind of difficult; so you have to do something."

"I'm afraid I can't do anything," Whale said, removing his gloves and dumping them in the trash next to the bed.

"Then who?" Emma demanded, pulling her jeans on under the gown. "This can't be normal."

"Maybe try Gold," Whale said on his way out the door. "He usually has answers about this kind of thing."

"Thing?" Emma said. "What kind of thing are we talking about?"

But Whale was gone, already off to the next room. Emma swore and dug the keys for her car out of her back pocket. Guess she was going to Gold's.

Regina had also come to the conclusion that a visit to Gold was in order. When her test results all showed up negative and Whale declared her fit, she knew this was nothing that could be solved physically, which led her to the only other logical conclusion: magic.

And boy, did that worry her a whole lot more, because in her experience magical afflictions never ended well.

The ride to Gold's was quiet. The town was still subdued after the trigger debacle, still picking up the pieces of their shaken lives.

However, Regina was surprised to find the canary yellow Bug parked right outside the shop. Even more surprised to find Emma, clad in her red leather jacket, leaning across the counter attempting to throttle Gold.

Regina cleared her throat when the sound of the bell overhead didn't break Emma's hold. "I'd call the Sheriff," she said mockingly. "Though it appears she's already here."

"Not now," Emma said through gritted teeth, though she did release her grip on Gold.

"Just a misunderstanding, Madame Mayor," Gold said, smoothing down his tie. "Ms. Swan here was just telling me how difficult it's been adjusting to all the pressure lately." His lips quirked.

Regina stared. Gold's choice of words had to be a coincidence. Pressure. That's exactly what she was feeling. What she was drowning under. How could he know? Then again, this was Gold. How could he not know?

"Like I said," Emma began again, back still to Regina. "This isn't a joke. Whale said you could help, so get helping."

Gold tittered and Emma reached for him again, but Regina was faster and she caught Emma's hand first. "How do you expect him to―"

But as they connected, skin on skin, a jolt of incredible energy passed between them. Heavy and electric and completely unlike anything either of them had ever felt. Emma, sighing a little, felt a giant sense of relief as they connected, the weight leveled out, no longer crushing.

But Regina snapped her had away, as if a shock had traveled up her arm, and stumbled into the side of the counter. Her hands flew out to catch herself. Support herself. Though she did a poor job and ended up on the ground, moaning.

"Regina," Emma said quickly, dropping to her knees.

"Ah, ah, ah," Gold began, walking around the counter. "I wouldn't touch her right now."

"What do you mean?" Emma snapped, hands hovering over Regina's arm. Her fingers twitched mid-action.

"It appears you two are harbouring an excess of magic in your bodies, most likely a side effect from the trigger. All that magic had to dissipate somewhere and it looks like it chose you two."

"That's great," Emma said, noting that the pressure in her chest had subsided a little. "Just what I want to be: a magical . . . wait! Did we just . . . did I just send more of that magic into Regina?"

"It appears so," Gold said, bending down to rest a hand on the Mayor's head.

Normally the brunette would have taken a good swipe at him for this, but seeing as she couldn't keep the images in front of her face from blurring, she just focused her energy on not passing out completely. Everything was buzzing. Filling her ears. Her eyes. The hollow spaces in her bones. Just pressure, pressure, pressure.

"Magnets," Gold said suddenly.

"What?" Emma looked up at him, eyes wide. "You have to explain this crap, Gold. I'm not just gunna understand by osmosis."

"That, Ms. Swan, is exactly what this is. A magnetic osmosis. The magic doesn't seem to be free travelling. It doesn't pass to just anyone, which means it is attracted to itself. Half resides in you and half resides in Regina here, and because you both already possess extreme amounts of your own magic, there isn't quite enough room to harbour all this excess."

"So how do we get rid of it?" Emma asked. "Got a magical siphon in here somewhere?"

"Unfortunately no," Gold said. "It appears the most logical thing would be to simply wait it out, though that seems to be quite uncomfortable."

Emma cocked her head. "No shit."

"Though the alternative isn't quite so pleasant either," Gold mused. "It would seem that the magic can transfer between you two ― like your osmosis theory, Ms. Swan."

"It wasn't really a theory," she said.

Gold just continued. "Absorbing from one body to the next until the connection is broken." He took her hand then, guiding it towards Regina's.

Emma stiffened as he did so, afraid of sending Regina into a full scale attack. Whatever happened had obviously been enough to zap her system because the brunette had yet to utter one snarky thing to either of them. She closed one eye and turned away as Gold connected their hands again. Immediately the same feeling of leveling ease washed over Emma, clearing the weight in her chest again. She inhaled deeply. Free. And fucking confused.

Regina's eyes fluttered and her laboured breaths slowed. Calmed. "You have to be joking," she muttered.

Gold smirked: a wide, toothy thing, bringing his hands up to settle on the top of his cane. "Well," he said, followed by a trill little giggle. "This is quite the predicament, dearies."


	3. Chapter 3

Hours could have passed. The sun could have set. And Emma wouldn't have noticed. Not because she wasn't paying attention, but because the vast majority of her attention was focused on the brunette that she currently shared prime "floor" real estate with.

Her eyes scanned and darted, first assessing Regina's breathing, which had leveled out considerably. Then her hair: mussed with magic, flipping along the side of her neck in soft tufts. The rose colouring along her cheek bones. The warm honey brown eyes that blinked strangely, almost subdued-like, at the ceiling.

The sensations and sights sent a familiar thrill down Emma's spine, pooling in her stomach. She beat away the butterfly's that took residence there. Now was not the time.

"Well that's better," she said finally, hand wrapped around Regina's. "A lot better." They were still sprawled out on the floor of Gold's shop, and if anyone walked in right now they would most likely have questions. Questions Emma wasn't sure she could answer, because she still didn't know exactly what was going on; why Regina looked more annoyed now than she did before, or why Gold's smile seemed to split his face in two.

"Better," Gold repeated, his lips quirked just enough to send a shiver down Emma's spine. "However, it has not fixed the problem." He cleared his throat before Regina could interject. "Prolonged contact simply seems to stabilize the magic. In order to fix the problem you must find a way to dispel it from yourselves."

Emma winced as she straightened, moving to lean against the counter. She held firm to Regina's hand the entire time and was all too aware when her thumb brushed the back of Regina's knuckles, the Mayor's skin soft beneath hers. Swallowing a blush, Emma pushed those thoughts from her mind and concentrated on what Gold said. "Can't we just magic it out?"

"Magic it out?" Gold repeated.

Emma made a face. "Yeah, you know, Regina can light some things on fire and use up some of the magic," she said, turning from Gold to the brunette.

"Whatever it takes to separate myself from you," Regina answered quickly, noting how firm Emma's fingers were around hers, and how much she desired to return that squeeze. The comforting weight. The gesture. It was unnerving; a familiar heat spreading through her. One that seemed to overtake her whenever she and Emma got too close. The Sheriff either had very little respect for personal space, or simply did not understand the effect she had on people, Regina included.

"We shall see," Gold said. "First it would be wise to separate, though. Just in case the magic were to, let's say, backfire."

"Backfire," Emma said. "Like explode?"

"That's a harsh way of putting it," Gold mused, "but for the sake of your understanding Ms. Swan, then yes."

"Why would it explode?" Emma demanded, her voice pitched.

"He doesn't know how our magic will react," Regina said. "Now that it's tainted."

Emma could hear the frustration in her voice. Whether it was at Emma herself, Gold's amusement, or just the situation, she couldn't tell. But for the sake of the former, Emma snapped her mouth closed. Questioning things wouldn't help. When it came to the realm of magic, Emma was lost. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," she muttered. "Just watch the face."

"Hm. I will not be aiming for your head, Ms. Swan."

Emma wasn't comforted by Regina's tone or the smirk that had crawled across her face and she could only imagine what the Mayor was thinking. She somehow knew the words "if you can keep your big mouth closed" would be involved. Emma huffed and settled Regina with a stare.

"Oh, please spare me the dramatics, Ms. Swan. Do you really think I'd be able to walk down Main Street if I disfigured the precious Saviour? Your parents would have my head. Not to mention what my son would say."

"Our son," Emma cut in.

"That is a matter of opinion."

"Seriously," Emma said, enduring an eye roll from Regina.

"I am always serious. And right now I'd like to get off this filthy floor—" Gold made a noise, a sort of grumbling in the back of his throat, and Regina's eyes flicked in his direction. "Perhaps you need a maid in this land as well."

"Let's get on with this, shall we," he said tersely. "Then you can kindly get out of my shop."

"Yeah," Emma said. "We're going."

Regina winced, steadying herself against the display case, and Emma took in a sharp breath. "On three we separate, okay? One―"

Regina yanked her hand back, separating the magic and, like having a series of bowling balls dropped on her chest, recoiled with a puff of air, groaning, face pressed against the bottom of the display case.

Emma groaned as the weight slammed back in place, almost worse than before. She was huddled on the ground, knees tucked up to her chest. Her fingers splayed across the floor, chewed nail beds digging into the laminate. "I didn't even say two," she wheezed. "You went too fast."

"Counting down like an infant does not change anything," Regina said, eyes squinted in pain. "Separating would have been uncomfortable either way."

"But at least I would have been ready for it."

"Well, if it will avoid this incessant whining, I'll let you count next time, princess." With a great amount of effort, Regina reached for the top of the glass display case and pulled herself to her feet.

Emma did the same, hands clenched around her knees as she tried to inhale against the feel of helium in her chest. "So," she said, head tilted, mouth pulled in a tight line. "Give it a shot. Before I start whining again."

"So like your mother," Regina muttered, whisking a fireball into existence. She aimed for the ship's wheel in the front shop window. And though it looked like the wooden wheel would be toasted to smithereens, the burst of magic Regina released ricocheted around the room before becoming a glowing ball of light that slammed itself right into Emma's chest.

The blonde, taken completely by surprise, flew back about three feet and landed on the floor with a dull thud and a loud moan.

"Emma!" Regina gasped, rushing over to her. "I'm . . . I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I know," Emma ground out, shoving her elbows into the floor to prop herself up. She could feel a goose-egg forming on the back of her head and, shimmying a little, had noted the rug burn from hell. But it was really the growing pressure inside her chest that was causing her problems. She kept her eyes closed, afraid that if she opened them she'd burst into tears. All the while Regina continued to apologize, uncharacteristic of her, but the concern Emma detected was enough to gloat with. Maybe later she decided; when she didn't feel like a too-full balloon that was ready to pop. "I know. Damn that hurt."

"Hmm," Gold said. "It appears that the magic has already mingled with your own. For the time being it would be wise to refrain from using it."

This was one of those times where Gold liked to state the obvious. Regina bit her tongue and Emma snorted. "Right, unless we want to be walking dominos," she said.

"Emma, can you open your eyes?" Regina asked.

"I can. Do I want to, is the real question?" She turned to where she imagined Gold was still standing. "I'm not going to erupt like a magic volcano or something, am I?"

"No, Ms. Swan, I don't expect you to combust."

Emma exhaled loudly. "Okay, good. Um, yeah . . . So, this is not cool. Just so everyone knows, I am retiring as Saviour for the duration of my time as a walking magic storage unit." She popped one eye open, finding Regina a lot closer than she expected, causing her to blush like a fool again. "Satisfied?" she asked.

"I would be more satisfied if you would stand up. Make sure all your limbs still work."

Emma smirked. "If I didn't know any better Madame Mayor I'd say you were worried."

"About my wellbeing," Regina said. "Of course I am. Did you think I was kidding about your parents?"

The Mayor's snarky attitude was intact, Emma noted, but Regina looked at her helplessly, pulling back the hand she wanted to offer. Touching each other again would not help the situation.

"What do we do now?" Regina asked, turning to Gold.

"Figure out how to dispel the magic without killing yourselves. Or simply wait it out."

"And how long could that take?"

"Days, weeks, a year perhaps. Only time will tell."

"A year?" Emma's eyes grew saucer-sized. "Are you kidding me?"

"There was a lot of magic in that trigger, Ms. Swan. Magic which is now living inside you. Unfortunately for you, this is the price."

"Right," Emma deadpanned. "All magic comes with a price. Well so does being the Saviour apparently." She rolled onto her stomach and pushed off of the ground, stumbling to her feet. "Thanks for all your help, Gold."

"It was a pleasure, Sheriff, as always." He nodded to Regina as she approached the door. "Madame Mayor, do enjoy the rest of your day."

Regina settled him with a daggered look before pushing outside, followed closely by Emma.

Once outside, they both inhaled deeply, something about the crisp morning air more freeing than the shop. The weight was still there. Aching. Needing. Distracting as hell. But at least they could breathe again.

"So now what?" Emma asked, leaning against the hood of her Bug.

"What do you mean, Sheriff?"

"How are we going to fix this?"

"Well," Regina said, "seeing as your magic consists of doing highly irrelevant things at inopportune times, I shall be following up our situation through magic. You will continue doing whatever it is you do during the day."

"So that's it?" Emma said, arms crossed against her chest. "We do nothing?"

"No, Sheriff, well I'm working on this, you will do everything in your power to stay as far away from me as possible. I do not relish being rendered immobile because you cannot keep your hands to yourself."

"Hey," Emma said with a frown. "You grabbed me first."

"Because you were attempting to strangle Gold."

"You want to strangle him now, too," Emma said. "Admit it."

"There are several people I'd like to strangle."

"Okay, I get it," Emma surrendered. "Not the best circumstances to work with."

"No, they're not, which is why you are banned from my office until we get this sorted out." Regina turned on her heel, walked to her car and unlocked the front door.

"Really?" Emma said, following her. "Because last time I checked you were the Mayor and I was the Sheriff. Our jobs required that we interact."

Regina got in behind the wheel. "Yes, Sheriff, that is why in this world they invented something called email. Good day."

But—"

Regina slammed the car door and turned the ignition.

Emma furrowed her brow as the Mayor pulled away. "This is not going to work!" she called after her. "We share a son!"


End file.
